Flowers in Israel – Nature

Olea europaea, Common Olive – from olive to oil (Hebrew: zeit, זית, Arabic: الزيتون)

The olive is one of the Biblical Seven Species, with which Eretz Yisrael is blessed: “a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs and pomegranates, and land of olive trees and honey” (Deuteronomy, 8.8).

For thousands of years the olive branch has been used as a sign of peace and goodwill; it is hence the attribute of Peace personified. The symbolism is deriving from the Biblical story (Genesis 8:10-11); the sprig of olive brought back to the ark of Noah by the dove.

In Greek Mythology the olive tree was sacred to Athene who caused an olive tree to sprout during her contest with Poseidon. It is her attribute and that of Wisdom whom Athene personifies.

Greek mythology describes the olive tree as a gift from the gods, it represented power and peace: power, because of its longevity and its ability to flourish on the most barren terrain and peace, possibly because of its solitary tranquility. This was the reason that the winners of the ancient Olympic Games, who represented the same ideals of strength and peace, were awarded the “kotynos”, a wreath made from a branch of wild olive. The olive wreath or crown was the highest award given to a citizen in ancient Greece.
Homer in the Odyssey called the olive “liquid gold”. Olive oil played a part in almost every aspect of daily life in ancient Israel and this importance is reflected in several verses. Disobedience to God would result in a loss of the olive crop (Deuteronomy 28:40). The oil honored both God and men (Judges 9:9) and was a component of the anointing oil of the high priest (Exodus 30:24).

The act of anointing with oil is called “meshikha”; messiah – Hebrew משיח mashiakh – means “the anointed one”.

Large supplies of oil were a sign of prosperity. The excess oil can be stored for up to six years; such stores were of national concern. For example, in the days of King David, Joash was in charge of the supplies of olive oil (I Chronicles 27:28). Olive Oil was so fundamental to all facets of Jewish life that those who produced it had to be ritually pure. It served as a major source of dietary fat, as lightning, as a base for cosmetics, perfumes and ointments. It was rubbed on the body to mix with oils and dirt present on the skin. It was then scraped off with a strigil, a sickle-like instrument, with a curved blade. The remarkable root system of the olive tree is the secret of its survival in its dry, rocky, habitat. To produce a good crop, however, the trees need a great deal of attention throughout the year–careful pruning, cultivating, and fertilizing. One of the characteristics of the olive tree is the production of sprouts at its base. In Bible times olives were often grown directly from the sprouts. The olive farmer would select sprouts from his best trees, remove them, and plant them where they would be carefully tended. Psalm 128:3 may be a reference to this practice- “your children will be like olive plants round your table. In begin of May the olive begins to flower and in autumn, they begin to produce their fruit. The olives are harvested at the precise moment when they are most suitable for pressing. They are harvested as in Bible times by carefully beating the trees with sticks and then picking up the olives from the ground. The olives went through three pressings: the first stage produced the best oil, a second and third pressing continued the process, which was completed over a twenty-four hour period. An olive press includes an installation for crushing olives and an oil press system operated by means of a beam or a screw.

1.The first stage of ancient production of olive oil was crushing the olives on a circular mill. They were spread on a horizontal stone basin and a vertical grindstone was rolled over the olives to crush them. This was the best-quality or virgin oil.

2. The second stage was pressing the crushed olives with a beam- or a screw-press. Pulp from the initial crushing was placed in woven baskets, that were loaded onto a press, that worked with a heavy horizontal beam let into a notch in the wall acting as a lever to press out the oil and water from the mash seep out of the mats, by adding stone weights progressively increasing the pressure and drip into collection vats. Another method is the screw-press. When the screw had been tightened to the point that the uprights began to lift, their weight constituted the pressure.

3.The third stage was the separation of the oil from the watery lees in the expressed liquid. The oil was removed from the vats by a dipper.

The olive oils are classified. The difference between oils is in their acidity and the order of pressing.

•The free acidity [expressed as oleic acid] of Extra Virgin Olive Oil [first pressing] must not exceed 1% or 1 gram per 100 grams.

•The free acidity or oleic acid of Virgin Oil [second pressing] must not exceed 2% or 2 grams per 100 grams.
•Semi Fine Virgin Olive Oil: is an olive oil that has an oleic acid content between 2 and 3.3%.
•Refined Olive Oil: is initially an olive oil with poor aroma and color and contains more than 3.3% oleic acid. After a refinement process loses it’s oleic acid as well as its aroma and color, but becomes edible.
•Pure Olive Oil: is a mixture of refined olive oil and virgin olive oil with an oleic acid content of no more than 1.5%.